October and November 2015 Update

            The month of October was the last month for scrimmage/preseason games and November featured a special game. All the teams played their final games for the year and we had some great ones. The kids and the communities are excited and anxiously anticipating the upcoming league in January when each team will be playing on a weekly basis. However, if the league started today we would have a pretty good idea on which teams are the best, due to the results from the preseason games. In the oldest division of 12-13 year olds Candelaria dominated by going undefeated with a 6-0 record. Nuevo Amanacer was a close second with plenty of talented players. They went 3-3 in the scrimmage games, and although they never beat the Candelarian team, there is reason for optimism because due to so many players the Candelarian team will be split into two different teams when the league rolls around. Santa Matilde brought up the rear, but with athletic kids who just lack practice the hope is that this team will be much improved than their preseason 1-5 record. The MVP of this division for the preseason would have to be Luiz Manuel Santana from Candelaria. His name around these parts is Luisito, which would translate to little Luiz, but his game is anything but little. With a 12-6 curveball that would make a grown man’s knees buckle and the ability to play shortstop at a high level makes him a highly versatile player and an easy choice for the MVP of the preseason.

Luiz about to throw his devastating curveball!

            There is a similar story in the 10-11 year old division as far as team rankings, but there is a twist. Candelaria ended the preseason with an unblemished 6-0 record. Yet, the twist is that the team from Nuevo Amanacer only played in the last weekend of games. Nuevo Amanacer gave Candelaria all they wanted and more in what was the best game of the preseason but, Candelaria escaped with a dramatic 2-1 victory. Nuevo Amanacer were 1-1 in the only weekend they played but they surely will make plenty of noise in the league. Santa Matilde struggled and were not able to find a win going 0-6. Without some improvement it might be tough for Santa Matilde to win games come January. Also, this division will get a surprise once the league starts as a team from a neighboring community who won the city league of Chichigalpa this past year will join this division. We are excited to be able to make this contact with this community because the coach is well respected and knows a lot about baseball. But most importantly, it offers us a chance to reach and minister to a neighboring community that New Song does not yet have a presence. The community is called Quitanca and is in close proximity to Nuevo Amanacer, which has a dynamic pastor and is building a new church building. We are excited with the possibilities and potential this relationship presents. Going back to the teams that participated in the scrimmages, instead of an MVP I want to give out a most improved to a young boy and girl. Jose and Mariana have been practicing since March. They both can get attitudes and are difficult/frustrating to coach at points. Yet, they have been faithful since the beginning and although those attitudes can pop up every now and then, they are much more respectful and receptive to coaching. Jose always had the ability and was quite a good player from the beginning. The biggest hurdle was to get him to use two hands when catching the baseball. You would of thought it was like asking him to put his hands into a fire. He would not do it and subsequently he dropped a lot of balls. He finally began to realize that when he did use two hands the ball never came out of his glove. During the classic game between Nuevo Amanacer, he was playing first base and made some Sportscenter worthy catches all while using two hands. On the other hand, little Mariana has been a project. She came in with no ability and has improved in all phases of the game. Although she would bat well during practices, she would not swing at all during the games because she was afraid of the ball. Finally, in the last game against Santa Matilde she got the bat off her shoulders and swung. She ended up getting a couple of hits and more than anything proved to herself that she can indeed hit the ball during the games just as good as she can in practice.

Jose and Mariana back in March forming their friendship!

           As for the youngest division of 7-9 year olds the pattern continues. Candelaria was the top team, having only one loss at 5-1. Once again Nuevo Amanacer, which might be the most improved out of any team, was the second best team. Having bounced back from early losses, they finished with a 2-4 record. Santa Matilde started off winning their first two games but nose dived from there and lost their last 4 games. Like the eldest division, Candelaria will have two different teams in this division come January, which will make things more interesting. For this division I would like to highlight what one could call the “Coach of the Preseason”. That is the coach of the Candelarian team, Rosita Vega. This young girl works six mornings a week from 6-9, has high school classes from 12-5 and still manages to give three practices a week. She has such a passion to teach the young ones about Jesus and the game of baseball. The youngest group is by far the hardest group to coach and to control, but Rosita does an exceptional job. Her team plays really well and it is awesome to see how she interacts with the kids and parents.

Rosita with her stud muffins!

            Like I said at the beginning, November featured a special game. The pastors, church leaders, and the coaches got together to play a softball double header. For the past year I have heard different pastors tell me of their glory days and how they still could go out there and play at a high level. Well they got their chance and while one can tell that father time has crept up on them, some can still play well. It was a great time of fellowship and a way to bless these men who work hard and give their lives to their communities. It was also great to see the potential of how we can utilize the fields that we have not only for league purposes but ways to bless and minister to the communities with games such as these. It was a great two months with plenty of joy and laughter. We are blessed to see things start to shape up and we are excited to see what God has in store. Please keep this ministry in your prayers and God bless!

Bismarck is the pastor of Nuevo Amanacer and from his accounts was a shoulder injury away from pitching in the majors...

Somebody needs to tell Bismark that he ain't getting to the majors like that!

The man, the myth, the legend...Encarnacion is one of our great guards at New Song so you know that he ain't stealing!

Rosita showing the old men up!

Support for 2016

We have been extremely blessed this year with how much money has been given to kick start this ministry. With what we have received, we have been able to build what is becoming the best set of fields in the area. We have two fields that are little league sized with the capability of using one field for older age groups, two sets of dugouts and backstops, beautiful green grass, a professional irrigation system to get us through the driest of times, and have been able to provide consistent work and income during a very difficult time of the year for three families. 

Yet, nothing can surpass the joy and excitement that has been provided to the kids and families within these communities Even though to date each team has only played a couple of exhibition games, you would think they were involved in the MLB playoffs. Kids are constantly asking when the next games are, and they are always recounting what happened in the previous games. Right now, they have to wait three weeks between each game. So we cannot wait to see how awesome things will be once January rolls around, and the season gets started. Like it was previously stated, this year and everything that has happened would not have been possible without your help. Because we desire to run a yearly league, there is a need for yearly financial help. Below is our 2016 Budget for the ministry.

2016 New Song Sports Ministry Annual Budget
Teams		$12,000
Field Maintenance		$4,000
Transportation		$3,000
Capital Budget		$5,000
Missionary/Local Staff Support		$15,000
		$39,000

TEAMS

In 2016, we will have 12 teams participating in the actual league. We determined that each team could be adequately sponsored with only $1,000. With this money we plan to provide each player and coach with a jersey, a glove for each kid, snacks after each game, trophies, team photos, and umpires for the games. Routine updates will be given for each team so that team sponsors can become connected with their team and its players.

FIELD MAINTENANCE

There has been a lot of work and money put into constructing our fields. To honor those that have given their time and money, we will continue to strive to have the best fields in Chichigalpa. Field maintenance would include providing for workers, grass products (fertilizer, weed killer, etc.), power for running the irrigation system and any miscellaneous expenses that come with upkeep of two fields.

TRANSPORTATION

Due to the broad scope of New Song Mission there are three communities that are not within walking/bicycle distance from the fields. Due to this, transportation needs to be provided for the teams and families.

CAPITAL BUDGET

The capital budget is for further field construction, such as two picnic areas, bathrooms, and seating. It also includes savings for future land and vehicle purchases.

MISSIONARY/LOCAL STAFF

Finally, the sports ministry currently has one full time American missionary and a part time Nicaraguan. The hope for 2016 is to find and train a full time Nicaraguan who can serve as a leader for the ministry, as well as continuing to financially support those that are currently involved.

As many of you know, this year has not turned out like any of us had expected. We have faced many unexpected obstacles along the way, but such things come with the territory of working in a third world country.  Even still, we believe that we made the most out of the year and our resources to lay down a solid foundation for the ministry. Now that the hard, nitty-gritty work is done we can focus on the real reason we are here and that is Jesus.  We ask that you prayerfully consider in partnering with us to bring the Gospel, hope and joy to the beautiful people of Nicaragua. For more information on giving please refer to the “How to Get Involved” section of our blog.

September 2015 Update

Another month has gone by and even though the rain has picked up a bit, we haven’t had any problems getting in a lot of baseball. During the first Saturday of the month the eldest group again had the opportunity to showcase their skills. The teams of Nuevo Amanacer and Santa Matilde had a double header at the New Song Field. In the first game Santa Matilde did not have much of a chance because the pitcher for Nuevo Amanacer brought the magic. He pitched a no hitter while also tallying 10 strikeouts. It was an unbelievable performance as Nuevo Amanacer took the first game 7-0. Santa Matilde looked to have bounced back in the second game being only down one run after the 3^rd, but that is when it started to unravel as the errors and walks began to tally. Nuevo Amanacer captured the second game to win 12-5. As for the other two other teams, Candelaria and Fe y Esperanza, they squared off in the community of Fe y Esperanza. Candelaria took the first game handedly and unfortunately a second game was not played due to an incident that happened after the first game. The communities that we are working in are very poor communities where education levels are not very high. With that we tend to see traits of petty theft, lack of respect and in general bad attitudes amongst the kids and sometimes the parents we are working with. After the game there was a dispute of a missing glove, which then escalated into a big scene. It was decided to not play the second game and to have everybody just go home. Fe y Esperanza (faith and hope) is the newest church plant for New Song Mission. In that there is not quite yet a foundation of Christian men or women who are available to help as coaches, chaplains, etc. Due to these reasons among others, it was decided by the Pastor of that community to suspend his teams from playing in the league in January giving him time to raise up people who will be able to provide the leadership and guidance needed. It was very disappointing because the Pastor has been a big proponent for the sports ministry up until this point and sees the huge potential that it has to impact his community. This lack of Christian leadership especially among men has been one of the biggest obstacles we have had to overcome, but in that it is also one of our biggest goals and focuses to impact the hearts of adult men and women through sports. We ask that you keep this in your prayers and that God will give us wisdom and guidance and that hearts will be softened amongst the people.

As for the second weekend there were only two teams that participated in the 9-10 age group and that was Candelaria and Santa Matilde. In the first game, Candelaria jumped on the opposition early thanks to patience at the plate and preferring to be walked instead of chasing bad pitches. Candelaria led 3-0 after the first. Santa Matilde could not get anything going in the second either as they were not able to find a way to score, but Candelaria again found themselves making noise on offense. The floodgates began to open up when Candelaria had the bases loaded with only one out and their clean up hitter, a 10 year old girl, up to bat. Little Yelly did not back down from the situation and hit a bases clearing double. From that moment Candelaria did not look back and ended up winning 13-0 after the game was called after the third. The second game of the double header began like the first game ended, with Candelaria lighting up the scoreboard. Candelaria posted a ridiculous 9 runs in the top of the first inning, but Santa Matilde answered in the bottom half of the first. Having already had their ace pitch two innings in the first game the coach of Candelaria decided to give the ball to another pitcher to see how well he could manage. He did not manage well as the pitcher surrendered 5 runs. The score stayed 9-5 as the teams went to the bottom half of the second. The coach let his pitcher start the second hoping to see an improvement. Unfortunately, Santa Matilde continued their hitting and knocked in 2 more runs. The coach decided to call on his ace to get his team out of the jam. The Candelarian stud stood tall and got his team out of the second inning without giving up anymore runs as the teams stood deadlocked at 9-7 heading into the third. The teams battled back and forth until the sixth and final inning. The score was 11-9 and it was anybody’s game. Candelarian came up to bat for their final turn and they made the most out of it. They were able to bring in 4 runs to push their lead to 15-9. Candelaria marched their closer out to the mound in the bottom of the sixth and he struck out two out of the four batters he faced to give Candelaria the win and the sweep for the day.

What an action shot!

Girl Power!

                                                                                  

The final weekend of the month included the little ones from the three communities of Candelaria, Santa Matilde, and Nuevo Amanacer. The first game was between Candelaria and Nuevo Amanacer. This particular Candelarian team has been one of the best coached teams so far and it shows. They do not make many errors, which is HUGE for little ones that are in this age group. They also can smash the ball of the tee. Up next was Nuevo Amanacer and Santa Matilde. The last time these two teams met, Santa Matilde took over a close game and dominated the last two innings so Nuevo Amanacer was looking for a win. One could tell that Nuevo Amanacer has improved over the past month as they did get the win that they were looking for. It was a close game throughout but the improvements in the players on Nuevo Amancer were good enough to propel them to victory. For the third and final game Santa Matilde was to take on Candelaria. The best game amongst all the teams in the previous month of August was the meeting between these two. Candelaria made an amazing comeback in the top half of the last inning only to see Santa Matilde win on a walk-off single in the bottom half. With memories of their gut wrenching loss still on their minds, Candelaria played some inspired tee ball. They were sharp fundamentally in the field and as always they brought their big boy bats. Candelaria easily took care of Santa Matilde as they finished undefeated for the weekend. After going undefeated in the first weekend they played, the youngsters of Santa Matilde headed back home winless knowing that they would have to improve in practice. 

This is why here team bats so well! Rosita does a great job with the little ones!

Nothing like cold water on a hot day!

As you can tell it was once again an eventful and fun month here in Nicaragua. The kids excitement level is at its highest now that we have completed two months of games. We are also having more adults and youth starting to become more interested in helping as assistant coaches and chaplains. Although we still lack quality chaplains for each team, we are making progress in this area as well and that is a huge blessing! We are also grateful and excited that our fields are really starting to come together. We hope to share extensive before and after photos of the fields soon. As always thank you all again for your support financially and in prayer without this all these things would not be able to happen. As stated previously please pray for wisdom and guidance as we continue to work and figure out what is the best way to be affective with this ministry. And as always pray that hearts will be softened and that God’s will will be done. Thanks and God bless!

Milton getting ready to crush it!

Being put in their positions!

What it's all about!

August 2015 Update

Baseball is well under way and it is a blessing to see all the hard work that has been put in start to pay off. We now have three Saturdays of baseball exhibitions under our belt. The first Saturday was for the oldest group and we had 4 communities participate: Candelaria, Nuevo Amanacer Santa Matilde, and Fe y Esperanza. Candelaria and Nuevo Amanacer faced off in a double header at the New Song fields. Candelaria won both of the tilts easily. It was clear to see, which team has put in the most practice. Luckily, there is plenty of time before January for everyone to improve. The other games took place in the community of Fe y Esperanza. Santa Matilde took the first game away from the home team, but Fe y Esperanza got revenge in the second winning comfortably although there were reports the home team snuck in some older kids in the second game. So an asterisk and a talking to were accompanied with that win. Needless to say, it was a successful first weekend.

The photo that broke the internet

Nidia showing that she can play with the big boys!

The second weekend featured the 9 and 10 year olds. There were three communities that took part: Candelaria, Santa Matilde, and Fe y Esperanza. It started off in typical Nicaraguan fashion with the bus transporting both Santa Matilde and Fe y Esperanza to the wrong location. After the miscommunication was resolved the first game between Candelaria and Santa Matilde kicked off at the New Song fields. Candelaria came out strong taking an early 2-0 lead, but Santa Matilde responded with 2 runs of their own in the 4^th. The pitchers on both teams showed real resolve when facing situations with runners in scoring positions and their defenses had their backs as well as the game ended in a 2-2 tie.  Due to starting later than expected, Santa Matilde had to get back and was not able to play against Fe y Esperanza. So Candelaria and Fe y Esperanza squared off for a game and it was a mismatch to start with. Although it was clearly communicated that the game was for the 9-10 year old age group, Fe y Esperanza decided to bring 12 year olds to the game. Being that they had made the long trip and seeing an opportunity for the Candelarian team to face an interesting challenge it was decided for the game to be played. Fe y Esperanza flexed their muscles by scoring 5 in the first. They continued in the second by adding 4 more for a 9-0 lead. Candelaria started to hold their ground and kept fighting against the steep competition and managed 2 runs in the third. Fe y Esperanza added 4 more runs in the next two innings and although Candelaria had the bases loaded in two consecutive innings they could not add any more runs and the game was called after the fifth for a 13-2 victiory for Fe y Esperanza.

Ole Wilson and that smile!

We definitely have beautiful background scenery!

It was the little ones turn to show their abilities this past weekend. Candelaria, Nuevo Amanacer, and Santa Matilde all squared off. The first game was between Candelaria and Nuevo Amancer. Nuevo Amanacer made a statement early with 2 runs in the first, but their optimism was short lived as Candelaria brought their big boy pants and absolutely exploded with 10+ runs of their own in the bottom half of the first. Candelaria exemplified surprisingly good defense with their first baseman catching any and all throws that came his way. Candelaria dominated the whole game much to the appreciation of the home crowd. Nuevo Amanacer had to quickly forget about their first game and turn their attention to Santa Matilde, and through the first three innings it looked like their game against Candelaria was just to shake off first game jitters and rust. They took a 10-6 lead heading into the fourth when they decided to trade baseball for hot potato. Santa Matilde took advantage and took a commanding lead that they did not surrender and won the game handely. So the final game featured the two winners, Candelaria and Santa Matilde. It was the game everyone wanted to see and boy it did not disappoint. The game started by Candelaria bringing in 3 runs, but the strong defense that they showed in their first game quickly disappearred as Santa Matilde answered with 2 runs. The two heavyweights went back and forth for the first three innings until Santa Matilde had a strong 4^th to take a 13-7 lead going into the fifth and final inning. Candelaria channeled their inner Rocky and Santa Matilde took a page out of the Nuevo Amanacer playbook by instilling the hot potato principles. Candelaria scratched out 7 runs to take a one run lead heading in to bottom of the fifth. Not wanting to succumb to defeat, Santa Matilde quickly found themselves with the bases loaded and no outs. They won the game on a 2 run liner to right field. It was a great way to end a great day and a great first couple of weekends.

The Candelarian "Bomb Squad"

Erwin does a great job of ministering and coaching the kids of Santa Matilde!

It has been an exciting time over the past couple of weeks, but even though the games are “exhibitions” there has been a few times where fans have gotten mad on a call an ump made or that the players have gotten away from cheering on their own team to say something to the other team. It is amazing how a little competition can change people into someone different. I am sure all of us have seen our fair share of ridiculousness at games throughout the years. It can be easy to forget that we can be getting so mad and angry at another brother or sister in Christ over a 7 year old’s game. In the new covenant there are two commands, love God and love your neighbor. In our weekly New Song staff devotionals we looked at 1 John 4. In the tenth verse of the chapter the author describes what love is, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” The word for atoning sacrifice in Greek is hilasmos, and this word is only used twice in the whole Bible with both being in 1 John. The definition of hilasmos is an offering to appease an angry, offended party (God). Jesus’s sacrifice was the sacrifice that appeased God’s wrath. It was humbling to understand what atoning sacrifice really meant and the powerfulness of it. After explaining the magnitude of God’s love the author pleads to his audience, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” We have brothers and sisters in Christ all over the world and we are called to love each and every one of them. It is understood that one person can only share love with so many people but we have definitely felt you all’s love here in Nicaragua. Be it through prayers, giving, or physically coming down to be here with us, it has been amazing and we are extremely grateful for it. I ask that you keep a few things in your prayers in this next coming month: that we will receive rain daily (Nicaragua has had a severe drought this rainy season), that the right people for chaplains will begin to come to the forefront, that we will fill our last coaching void in Candelaria, and that the games will continue to go well. Thanks so much and God bless!

Oh the joys of scoring a run!

Little Natalie decided to give the boys a lesson on how to hit!

Don't know if this was an out or the beginning of a game of hot potato

The bad news bears of Candelaria

So who's on first?

July 2015 Update

The month of July was highlighted by another group visit in the last week of the month. We hosted a group from Hope Church which is located in Monroe, NC. It was their first mission trip as a church and they made the most out of it. They were able to add two more sprinklers to the irrigation system, place the bases and home plate on both fields, visit and share the Gospel with four of the five communities we are working in, and provided laughter, joy and love to the people of Nicaragua. After months and months of work it is rewarding to see the baseball field taking shape. Now with the bases in place, and thank you Hope Church for your long day of work in the blistering heat, we just need for the rains to really start coming so that the grass will grow in well all over the field. It is always a pleasure to have groups come down and work along side of us to help with the vision and plan that we have. Groups always bring excitement to the kids and the community as a whole. They also bring manpower and can get a project done in a couple of days that otherwise would take a lot longer. So we are definitely grateful for the two teams that come down this past month but we are also excited to turn our focus to working hand in hand with the Nicaraguans to bring about a ministry that is going to be effective in the communities we are based in.

A devotional that one of the team members shared at the beginning of a practice touched on a simple thing that can easily be forgotten by many of us. In short, a story was told about how a baseball player thought he had hit his first collegiate home run by way of an in the inside the park homerun. Unfortunately the player had forgotten to touch first base and his excitement quickly turned to dissapointment as the opposing team threw the ball to first base and the ump signalled that he was indeed out. The analogy was made how Jesus is first base and if we forget to touch first base all the other bases are meaningless. How many times can we forget this in our own lives. We can get so caught up on going to second, third, and even home that we sometimes will "miss first base". Be it career aspirations, personal goals, family matters, or even our daily lives if we forget about the most important "base",  Jesus, all of those other things are meaningless. Even though the world will not call us out, heck they might even be cheering us on and patting us on our backs, our Heavenly Father will know that we missed the mark. Jesus himself challenged us on this in Matthew, "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, yet loses his own soul?" We can put together the most amazing baseball little league Nicaragua has ever seen with the best fields and the best equipment, and subsequently we would be praised by many for giving kids who have nothing something to be apart of. But, if we are missing first base as we round the bases then it is pointless. In Galatians 1:10 Paul sets clearly were his priorities are, "Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ." In a society of what have you done for me lately and doing what makes yourself happy, it is easy to get caught up in winning the approval of others and even yourself. Yet, the only approval that means anything is God's and it starts by us touching first base.

Leading songs at Sunday School

Water balloon fight gone crazy!

Setting home plate

Sunday school in Nuevo Amanacer

June 2015 Update

In June we had the privilege of having Stan Dobner and a group from Idlewild Baptist Church help us out for 10 days. It was a jam-packed schedule and we were able to get a lot accomplished. They led a fruit of the spirit teaching at two different Sunday schools, visited and prayed with multiple families in various communities, helped with maintenance on the field and around the mission property, installed an underground irrigation system, led baseball practices, held a field day event which was an all day event, and as always loved on those whom they came in contact with. It was an incredibly productive and successful trip. Stan felt that this was his best trip yet to Nicaragua and below are some of the reasons why.

One of the main objectives for the team was to install an underground irrigation system so that there would be no need to remove any piping every time that there was a practice or game. Thanks to the hard work of both Americans and Nicaraguans, they were able to get everything done in under three days! Words cannot express how much of an incredible blessing it is to have such an effective and efficient system. We are definitely the envy of the town!

Look at all that water!

During, the previous trip that this group made in January we did a mini baseball day camp. It was such a success that it was decided to do another one but bigger and better. So that is what we did and it turned out to be fantastic! In January only the kids from the community of Candelaria participated but this time we brought in all the kids from all five communities. We had two micro-buses running all day picking up and dropping off kids. In the morning we did the baseball camp holding three different sessions for the age groups of 11-12, 9-10, and 6-8. Then, in the afternoon we brought all the kids down to the mission property where we treated them to hot dogs and chips, a slip and slide, face-painting and games. We had over 200 kids come to both the camp and the afternoon event. It was a total team effort by everybody and by Nicaraguan standards it went as smooth as one could hope for. Also, before we started with the games at the mission property we had a time for the Gospel to be shared with the kids. A Nicaraguan who has been a huge help so far with this sports ministry shared a message with the kids and after five kids made decisions to accept Jesus! It was definitely a great day!

Getting some groups organized!

How many kids can you pack into a 15 passenger van?

But by far the coolest moment on the trip was when we were able to go visit the newest community that New Song has become apart of. The community is called Fe y Esperanza, which in English means Faith and Hope. The pastor of the community is named Daniel Campos and he has been the one leading the devotionals with the kids at every baseball practice. On the way to the community Pastor Daniel shared the story of how he and his wife decided to become involved with this specific community.  He described how he was struggling to find the best way to reach the community and begin a church in a place where he did not know many of the people. When he heard of the plan to begin the sports ministry and have a baseball league he said, “This is it. This is the opportunity that I have been waiting for.” He has capitalized on providing this ministry to his community and at the moment about half of his congregation consists of kids that have been going to the practices along with some of their family members. We were able to attend the Friday night service and Pastor Daniel asked Stan to share. Stan gave his testimony about how he was saved through baseball. After sharing, an alter call was given and over 10 kids decided to accept Jesus, most of whom had been participating in the practices and have heard the devotions that are shared at each one. It was an awesome time and definitely an encouragement to see how God is already using this ministry!

As far as an update on the start of the baseball league, it was decided to move the opening to January 2016. This will give plenty of time for the grass to grow in and to build a solid foundation for the league with finding the right people who will be coaches, chaplains, and apart of the committee. In the meantime to keep the kids encouraged and excited we will be having exhibition games starting in August. We are very excited to finally be focusing on what this ministry is about instead of worrying about fields, grass, and wells. As always we are thankful for your support and prayers. God bless!

Sunday School in Candelaria!

Visiting home and passing out baseballs!

Getting ready for some drills and yes those are goats in the back

April and May 2015 Update

We have entered “winter” here in Nicaragua, which really means we are now in rainy season and we are so thankful that God is now the one providing the water we need for our grass to grow! During April and May we were able to complete the well and have grass planted on the whole field!

We are so relieved to have a well that will serve us during the 6-month dry season. Even during the driest month of April the well was producing plenty of water! Although we had a bump in the road when we had to terminate our relationship with the person we first hired out for the job, we were able to find a non profit organization called Amigos por Cristo who came and finished the well for free! It was a huge blessing to say the least! Once the well was completed we were able to start planting grass again. They were able to finish planting the grass in about the middle of May. 

Our new well!

Other parts may not be so good but the infield is coming in nicely!

While some parts are coming in great, like the infield, there seems to be more weeds growing the grass in other parts. They used weed killers before they planted the grass because there was quite a bit of weeds that were on the field, but the weeds have come back and the battle against the weeds has begun! Although it is frustrating we recognize that this is a common struggle that anyone has when beginning to plant grass for the first time. While being out on the field pulling weed after weed and spraying weed killer all over the place it is easy to remember the parable that Jesus told of the sower that can be found in Matthew 13. To paraphrase the parable a farmer scattered his seed in multiple places including along a path, which was eaten by birds; in rocky places, which did not have soil; in thorns, which choked the plants; and finally in good soil, which produced a crop of a hundred, sixty or thirty times more than what was sown. Jesus goes on to explain that the places where the seed was sown are equivalent to people who hear the message about the Kingdom. This is a very well known parable that unlike others Jesus clearly explains the meaning, but recently I heard an interesting commentary about this parable that really made me think. Although Jesus knew very well that scattering the seeds along the path, in the rocks and amongst the thorns was not going to provide any sort of good harvest He still took the time to sow there. Be it out of His unsurpassing love for us or just out of the fact that everyone deserves to hear the Gospel, the seeds were scattered. It is not our job to decide for God who deserves to hear the Gospel and who does not. On the contrary Jesus says, “Go and make disciples of all nations”. It is true not everyone who hears will believe, but the important part is that they hear. The Spirit could very well prompt us to share the Good News with someone who would qualify as a path, rock or thorn. It is up to us to be obedient, and not to play the judge and the jury.

Another way we can relate to this parable is with how the practices are going. Due to the setbacks we have faced and also to the fact that we are working with communities where sometimes characteristics such as discipline, responsibility, and faithfulness seem to be non-existent there has been a steep fallen off amongst the children and coaches. We definitely scattered a lot of seeds and we have seen examples of each “place” mentioned in the parable with the kids. Some never showed up from the beginning, some showed up once or twice, some were faithful at the beginning and once they realized the league would have to be starting later stopped coming, and then we have the few, the proud and the faithful. And how we love the latter bunch! It has been a joy to see kids that did not really know each other too well develop friendships. While walking back from one practice there were 4 kids, who did not get along at the beginning, walking back with their arms around each other as if they were best buds. It was definitely what you would call a “kodak moment” but unfortunately there was no camera in sight. Yet that is an image engrained in my memory that makes one realize the reason you are here and the potential that is in this ministry. Working on their attitudes is definitely a work in of itself but through devotionals and discipline you can notice the subtle difference that is beginning to take place in the kids. 

Nothing like a practice on a hot day!

Pastor Daniel Campos does a great job doing devotionals in his community

As always, we ask that you continue to pray for the ministry, the people working in it and those that it is reaching, and for the fields specifically that the grass will grow abundantly and that the weeds will die off. Also, Stan will be bringing a team of 13 down here to Nicaragua from June 20^th – June 30^th. During this time they are planning to do house visits with the families whose kids are participating in the league for a time of fellowship, prayer and evangelism; install a new underground irrigation system; and “scatter more seeds” among the children by holding another field day and nailing down a plan to start the league in the most effective way. Please keep them in your prayers!